From Erik’s speech, he mentions that the general-purpose technology in our era is the computer. Tremendous innovations have been made recent decades and computers become the dominant part of human’s life. Also, from his perspective, online services will dominate the future services because they are digital, exponential and combinatorial.

In my opinion, some goods and services are suitable for online services but some are not. For example, if one decides to watch a movie, he can purchase one online and get the digital version of it. It is good for both producer and consumer because of producer, they do not need to make the actual DVD. All they need to do is to send the data, which is almost zero cost. On the consumer side, he can get the product right away because it is transported by the Internet, and the price is relatively low.

However, if one wants to buy a laptop, online shopping may not be the best method. Though some companies do provide successful online purchasing services like Dell, there still are some problems. Sometimes, people are disappointed because they find the pictures online do not match the actual product. Maybe the screen is too big, or the keyboard is not the style they want. It is always better to go to the store and try the actual product rather than looking at the pictures online because people are able to feel the products themselves and buy exactly what they want.